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A HARROWING apartment-by-apartment operation inside the burnt-out Wang Fuk Court high-rise complex has pushed Hong Kong’s death toll to at least 128, making it one of the territory’s deadliest fires in decades.
AP cited authorities warning the figure may continue to climb as search teams press on through the seven towers devastated by Wednesday’s blaze, which tore vertically and laterally through the complex after renovation scaffolding fuelled the spread.
Hong Kong: Fire Services confirmed on Friday that dozens more bodies were recovered overnight, bringing the toll up by 34.
Derek Armstrong Chan, a deputy director of the department, said crews prioritised units from which more than two dozen distress calls had been received but could not be reached at the height of the inferno.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang, speaking at the scene, cautioned that “the numbers could still rise”, saying 89 bodies remained unidentified and roughly 200 residents were still unaccounted for. He estimated that the investigation would take at least “three to four weeks”.
Fire Services Director Andy Yeung disclosed that initial inspections revealed non-functioning fire alarms in parts of the complex.
“There could be legal consequences,” he said. Twelve firefighters were among the 79 injured, and one firefighter was killed.
The blaze erupted mid-afternoon on Wednesday in one of the complex’s eight towers.
Bamboo scaffolding wrapped in netting for a renovation project ignited, allowing flames to leap rapidly from building to building until seven towers were engulfed. It took firefighters nearly 24 hours to bring the fire under control, with flare-ups continuing well into Friday morning.
The Wang Fuk Court estate, located in Tai Po district near the mainland border, housed nearly 2,000 flats and approximately 4,800 residents, many of them elderly. Most casualties were found in the first two towers overwhelmed by the blaze.
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency announced an investigation into the renovation works, and police confirmed they had arrested three men — company directors and an engineering consultant — on suspicion of manslaughter, citing “gross negligence”.
The Associated Press (AP) confirmed Prestige Construction & Engineering Company oversaw the project, and police seized boxes of documents from its offices.
Authorities also reported discovering plastic foam panels near elevator lobbies and suggested some exterior wall materials failed to meet fire-resistance standards, contributing to the unusually rapid spread.
Immediate inspections of other housing estates undergoing renovation have been ordered.
This is the city’s deadliest fire in decades. The last tragedy of comparable scale occurred in 1948, when a warehouse fire claimed 176 lives. A 1996 commercial building fire in Kowloon killed 41. -November 28, 2025